Ink jet printing assembly

Abstract

An ink jet printing assembly and method of use for printing on a substrate where the substrate is driven in a driving direction. The ink jet printing assembly includes a first jetting assembly having a first ink orifice and a second ink orifice and a second jetting assembly separate from the first jetting assembly having a third ink orifice. The third ink orifice is positioned between the first ink orifice and the second ink orifice in a cross substrate direction. A third jetting assembly, separate from the first and second jetting assemblies, includes a fourth ink orifice. The fourth ink orifice is aligned with the first ink orifice in the cross substrate direction. The fourth ink orifice is fired in an alternating relationship with the first ink orifice to define a generally consistent line of ink capable of minimizing the appearance of banding.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 568,445, filed on May 5, 2004. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to ink jet printing and, more particularly, relates to single-pass ink jet printing having an improved nozzle arrangement. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Ink jet printing is extremely popular in a wide variety of industries. Typically, ink jet printing is accomplished through the use of a print head. The print head includes a plurality of orifices each capable of depositing an ink drop upon a substrate to form a predetermined pattern, such as an image, text, and the like. The plurality of orifices contained in the print head are arranged in rows and columns and are each capable of depositing an ink drop to a defined pixel position grid (also, defined as rows and columns) upon a substrate. Thi...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] According to the principles of the present invention, an ink jet printing assembly for printing on a substrate are provided having an advantageous construction and method of use. The substrate is driven in a driving direction. The ink jet printing assembly includes a first jetting assembly having a first ink orifice and a second ink orifice and a second jetting assembly separate from the first jetting assembly having a third ink orifice. The third ink orifice is positioned between the first ink orifice and the second ink orifice in a cross substrate direction. A third jetting assembly, separate from the first and second jetting assemblies, includes a fourth ink orifice. The fourth ink orifice is aligned with the first ink orifice in the cross substrate direction. The fourth ink orifice is fired in an alternating relationship with the first ink orifice to define a generally consistent line of ink capable of minimizing the appearance of banding.

Problems solved by technology

However, it should be understood that there are limits to the minimum spacing between adjacent orifices that can be achieved with today's manufacturing systems.

However, these arrangement also suffer from a number of disadvantages, such as their sensitivity to yaw angle alignment of the substrate relative to the print head, the clumping of ink drops on non-absorbent substrates, and additionally the inability to nest adjacent print heads directly next to each other.

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